Presenter '13: HTML5 Content Is Slow or Doesn't Work in Mobile Safari

Articulate Presenter '13 HTML5 output is supported on iPads/iPhones running iOS 6 or later. However, the mobile Safari browser has inherent limitations that impact how multimedia operates and the overall performance of HTML5 content.

Limitations

Performance of HTML5 content on an iPad/iPhone will be affected by mobile Safari's limited resource allocation. The responsiveness of the content in mobile Safari will generally be slower than desktop browsers. Some courses may not play properly and may even cause mobile Safari to close unexpectedly.

The iPad/iPhone version that you're using can also impact mobile Safari's performance. New models have more memory, which means your HTML5 content may be slower to respond in older models. For reference, here are the iPad/iPhone memory specs:

Recommendations

We can't guarantee that every course will work as designed in mobile Safari due to its current memory limitations. To provide the best possible experience for iPad users, we recommend including output for the Articulate Mobile Player. You can even track learners' results in an LMS via the Articulate Mobile Player by publishing for Tin Can API.

However, if you need to deploy HTML5 content, first test it thoroughly in mobile Safari to determine if it works as expected. And if learners have different generations of iPads/iPhones, be sure to test each model (due to the memory variations noted above).

We also recommend testing HTML5 content in the Google Chrome desktop browser—which provides the best HTML5 support—to establish the baseline performance of your content. Then compare your Google Chrome experience with mobile Safari. Depending on the results, you may need to adjust the design of your course to achieve better performance in mobile Safari.

While newer models will provide better performance because they have more memory, you may also be able to improve performance by updating the iOS software on your iPad/iPhone to the latest version.

Make sure your Articulate software is up-to-date in order to take advantage of all the latest enhancements and fixes. Download the latest version from the link provided in your product activation email. Or, download the latest installer here.